A Whole New Raph
by ssj2luke
Summary: Takes place in the 1987 cartoon, mostly. Raphael gets a new mutagen poured on him during a fight with Shredder, and goes through some interesting changes. How will his family deal with these changes, and what will Shredder do when he discovers what his mutagen did to the red-banded turtle? Rated K for some violence and language. Formerly titled Changes.
1. Secondary Mutations

Author's Note: I came up with this idea while I was lying in my bed, thinking about the other story I'm currently working on. Again, it was about TMNT. My favorite incarnation of the franchise has been the 2003 series because of how serious and kick-ass it was most of the time. But, after a while, I checked out the 1987 series. And, to be honest, I can see why so many people like it. Despite its corny nature, it can be pretty funny at times, and the characters are very likable. I've seen more than 100 of the 193 episodes, so I've got a good enough sense of the show. So, I'm going to write one based off of that series for once, mostly. It's going to be a basic story, kind of like an episode of the show would play out, except maybe a bit longer.

Summary: During a fight with the Shredder, Raphael gets a new mutagen poured on him and turns into…2003 Raph! How will the family deal with the new Raph, and what will Shredder do when he finds out about this startling transformation? Warning: I'm not sure how good I am at writing jokes like they did in the show. This is all new to me.

**Changes**

Raphael rubbed his eyes slowly, letting the cold sewer breeze waft over his face. He slowly sat up in his bed, taking in the familiar surroundings and making sure everything was in its proper place. Confirming that, he laid back down in his bed. He had just had the most wonderful sleep ever. He had dreamed about fighting the Shredder and Krang with his brothers. The brothers had been losing, but then all of a sudden they had grown to the size of buildings and crushed Shredder and Krang like bugs.

Raphael smiled and thought, '_Any dream like that has to be a sign of good things to come.'_

That smile of his only grew larger when he caught the smell of pizza through the kitchen.

'_Looks like Michelangelo read my thoughts.'_

Without hesitation, Raphael grabbed his bandana off of his desk and sprinted to the kitchen. Upon entering it, he found his brother Michelangelo taking a pizza out of the oven. It's intoxicating smell almost made Raphael drool in delight, and when he looked at it, he couldn't help but shout.

"I can't believe it!"

Michelangelo turned his head towards the shout in confusion, and questioned, "Can't believe what, compadre?"

"You made a pizza!"

Now Michelangelo was really confused, "Dude, I make pizzas every day. How is this one any different?"

Raphael frowned, as if in disbelief that his brother could be that oblivious, "But, this one is completely normal, without any crazy toppings on it at all!"

Michelangelo looked down on the pizza, and shrugged, "Well, sometimes I just like to go back to basics."

Reaching down to pick up a slice, Raphael patted his brother on the shell, "Tell me about it. I can't tell you how many times I've nearly barfed over chocolate fudge, sardine, and chili pepper pizza. With of course, plenty of whipped cream on top."

"Hey, can't blame me for being creative."

Laughing, Raphael called out to his remaining brothers, "Hey guys! Pizza!"

Almost as if in a cartoon, Leonardo and Donatello's heads popped out from their respective roles, and they said in unison, "Did someone say pizza?"

They rushed over to the other two brothers, and immediately, the four began digging into their pizzas. Cheese flew all over the place, and their mouths quickly became covered in sauce, but they didn't care. They were eating heaven.

With a smile on his face, Master Splinter walked into the room and observed the sight of his four students devouring their breakfast.

'_And unfortunately, their lunch and dinner as well,' _the middle-aged rat thought. He quietly walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a package of his favorite sushi, not wanting to interrupt his students' eating. But, his presence was enough to cause the brothers to snap their heads towards him. Knowing he was caught, Splinter said to the four, "And how are you this morning, my students?"

Immediately, the four dropped their pizzas and bowed to their master in respect, Michelangelo still with a sliver of cheese hanging from his lower lip.

"We are fine this morning, Master Splinter." Leonardo said, "And how are you?"

"Perfectly fine, Leonardo. Do not fret over me, I was simply getting some sushi of out the fridge for my breakfast."

Standing up with a smirk, Raphael said, "I still can't believe you eat that gross stuff, Master. I would rather eat a pile of Krang's mutagen."

Master Splinter smirked right back and said, "And I could say the same about the pizza you eat, Raphael."

The other three brothers erupted in laughter and fell on the ground, clutching their stomachs.

"He got you pegged, Raphael!" Michelangelo said, almost chocking on his pizza.

With a huff, Raphael crossed his arms. "Come on guys, it wasn't that funny."

Wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes, Donatello put an arm on Raphael's shoulder, "Yeah, but since you spend most of your days cracking jokes at the rest of us, it's that much funnier when you get your comeuppance!"

Raphael put a finger to his chin in thought, then suddenly smiled. "Yeah, you're right," he said, "I can't be right all the time."

"Really?" Donatello asked. _'Raphael admitting he was wrong? That's impossible.'_

"Really." Raphael responded. "If I was right all the time, then I would damage all of your already fragile egos."

"Ego?! I'll show you ego!"

Donatello instantly leaped on Raphael, and before Splinter could blink, the other two brothers had entered the brawl, and the four ninja turtles were tossing and turning on the floor, battling each other for dominance.

'_Teenagers.'_ Splinter thought, choosing to ignore the fight for the time being and turning on the television to his left. He flipped the channel nob to the right until it landed on Channel 6.

'_Perhaps Ms. O'Neil will have something interesting to present on the news today.'_

As if the world had heard his wish, the channel opened up to a news report being done by April O' Neil, with a message labeled "BREAKING NEWS" under it. Ms. O' Neil, dressed in her regular yellow jumpsuit, had a neutral expression on her face, but Splinter could clearly see the frantic look in her eyes.

"My students," Splinter said, effectively stopping the fight in front of him, "Perhaps you should pay attention to the news report. It appears to be important."

Instantly, the four turtles got up and leaned in close to the television in order to listen to what April had to say.

"Breaking news," April began, her hands wringing her papers nervously, "It appears the notorious villains Shredder and Krang have made a raid in the New York Crime Lab and are using the Technodrome to wreak havoc throughout the city. People are curious as to what they plan to do with the stolen chemicals, but given their track record, it's obvious it can't be for anything good."

'_Oh great,'_ Raphael thought, '_What a perfect way to end a great start to a day.'_

"We at Channel 6, and many citizens are waiting for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to make their moves on the evil duo. They have been known to stop these villains before, so I have no doubt in my mind they will be able to accomplish that task again."

Leonardo stood erect and lifted his sword in the air, "Well then we'd better not let those people down! Come on brothers, let's show old Shredder what we turtles are made of!"

'_For the one hundred millionth time,' _Raphael thought.

With a battle cry, Leonardo leaped into the air and started to the ladder that led to the surface, while his brothers followed. Wasting no time, Leonardo shoved the manhole cover from its spot, and one by one, the four ninjas jumped through the hole and onto the surface. Raphael, being the last to exit the hole, stopped at the surprised looks on his brothers' faces. He followed the direction of their eyes, and…

'_Well, aren't we lucky?'_

The Technodrome was right in front of them, in all of its giant golf ball glory. Before Raphael could even wonder as to how the Techonodrome had happened to be right where they needed it to be, the front door of it opened, and the four tensed in anticipation.

However, no one exited it. No Foot Soldiers, or Rock Soldiers. No Bebop, no Rocksteady, not even Shredder or Krang. No one.

Raphael got angry, "Hey, what's the big idea here?! Why would Shredder leave the door open for us like that?"

"Perhaps it's a trap." Donatello mused. "He probably has something set up for us in there somewhere. He wouldn't just let us stop him like that. I know him to be stupid, but not that stupid."

"It doesn't matter." Leonardo said, stepping forward. "No matter what he has ready for us, we'll just defeat it like we usually do. We can't just stand here and allow him to get away with those stolen chemicals. Who knows what he has planned for them?"

"Leonardo's right." Michelangelo said, "We'll take down Shreadhead like always, and before we know it, we'll be back in the sewers scarfing down our pizzas. Come on, let's go!"

The four quickly rushed into the Technodrome and began the arduous journey to the top. Throughout the run, Raphael noticed the almost creepy lack of obstacles. There were no trap doors, no lasers or guns. Their way was virtually unblocked. Raphael began to feel a nagging sensation in the back of his mind, a premonition of things to come.

'_I'm starting to think Donatello was right about the whole trap thing.'_

Before he knew it, the four were at the top of the Technodrome and at the door that led to Shredder's main battle room. With a mighty kick, Leonardo knocked down the door and the turtles entered the room, light on their feet.

Once again, there was no one around. All they could hear was the beeping of Shredder's computer and the bubbling of mixing chemicals surrounding them. The turtles settled themselves into a battle position, arranging themselves in an equal distance from each other. They formed a circle and faced away from each other, waiting for something to happen.

But nothing did happen. The four brothers stood silently for several minutes, and nothing changed.

Feeling a need to lighten the mood, Michelangelo said, "It's quiet….too quiet."

Leonardo responded with a glare at his younger brother. "Michelangelo, really?!"

Michelangelo shrugged, giving a small smile, "Hey, I can't help it. I've always wanted to say…"

His explanation was swiftly cut off as four cages fell from the ceiling and landed on each of the turtles, trapping them where they stood. It happened so fast the turtles weren't able to react appropriately. Michelangelo simply looked around and said, "What?"

"I told you it was a trap!" Donatello shouted.

"Well you don't have to shove it up our noses, now do you?" Raphael shouted back.

"That's not my point! If we're trapped, then Shredder is going to get away with whatever he has planned!"

"Right you are, my young reptilian friend."

All four turtles visibly shuddered at the sound of their long time enemy, the Shredder. He stepped out of the shadows, wearing his usual garb of metal spikes and gauntlets, while accompanied by Krang, who was using his bubble walker to walk beside Shredder. The two held superior smirks on their faces, while the Shredder held a small test tube in his gloved hands. The test tube was bubbling with a bright red liquid, and all of the turtles very not very eager to find out what it was.

"You see, I was tired of always plotting my evil schemes and having you meddlesome reptiles thwart them," The Shredder said, walking around the cages, "So I decided to try a different tactic. You see, I had always sent my best obstacles your way in order to stop you. Since I kept you constantly alert, you were able to overcome my obstacles and eventually defeat me."

"Yeah yeah, Shredhead," Raphael said, putting a hand over his mouth and yawning, "Nice backstory. Can we pick up the pace a bit?"

"Silence, vermin." Shredder said, looking at the red-banded turtle with contempt. He continued, "So I…"

"We." Krang interrupted.

"We," Shredder corrected, giving a grunt of annoyance, "came up with the brilliant idea of allowing you free passage into our Technodrome, leaving nothing to slow you down."

"That way our guard would be down and you would have the best opportunity of capturing us." Donatello said, eyes widening in shock.

"Right you are, Donatello." Krang said, clapping his tentacles in delight. "And now that we do have you in our grasp, they'll be nothing to stop us from testing out our new super-soldier formula."

"Super-soldier formula?" Michelangelo asked.

Krang gave out a guttural laugh that made all of the turtles shiver. "Indeed, reptile. We used the chemicals we stole from the Crime Lab and combined it with some chemicals of our own to create a formula designed to increase the size, strength, speed, and fighting ability of the person who drinks it."

Shredder held up the test tube, giving an imposing figure, "And I, the Shredder, shall be the first to try it out."

Krang continued, "Once we both drink the formula, we will become unstoppable! No one in the Earth will dare oppose us!"

Both villains proceeded to laugh loudly, their voices echoing throughout the room. Then they both turned away from the turtles and walked towards their computers.

Michelangelo turned towards his brothers in worry, "Dudes, what are we going to do? We can't let Shredbucket get away with this."

Raphael nodded in agreement. '_There's got to be a way to get out of these cages.' _Looking around for a flaw in the design of the cages, his eyes finally rested on his iron sais, which were still firmly planted in his belt. He pulled one of them out, and smirked.

'_Well, I guess Shredder isn't all that brilliant after all.'_

Raphael moved over to the handle of his cage, and began picking the lock.

Noticing Raphael's actions, Leonardo said in a heated whisper, "Raphael, what are you doing?!

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Raphael responded, "I'm picking the lock so we can get out of here."

"Well hurry up then! Your weapons are the only ones thin enough to pick the locks. You'll have to do the same with the rest of us."

"I know!"

Raphael worked as fast as he could with his sai, twisting and turning it through the lock in an attempt to find the right spot. Finally, after much effort, he heard the click that indicated that the lock was unlocked.

"Yes!" He hissed in triumph.

He silently crept over to Donatello's cage and began the process over again. He worked faster this time, hoping desperately that the feat he had accomplished could be done twice.

As he grunted with the effort of gently handling his sai, Raphael thought, '_I really hope Shredder and Krang don't suddenly decide to turn around and spot what I'm doing. That would be so cliché it would…'_

"Hey, turtle!"

Turning around, Raphael saw both Shredder and Krang facing him, a look of frustration on their faces.

'_Oh great.' _Raphael thought, _'Just my luck.'_

"Bebop! Rocksteady! Deal with this reptile!" Shredder shouted, pointing a shaking finger at Raphael.

Almost out of nowhere, the mutant rhinoceros and hog barged out from another door and made their way towards the sai-wielding turtle. Grinding his fists together, Rocksteady said, "We're gonna grind you into itty bitty turtle bits."

"And all yer little friends are going to watch!" Bebop added, swinging a large metal chain over his head.

"Guess again, freakshows!" Raphael shouted, as he leapt into the air and began to battle with the two henchman. He fought valiantly, but he quickly found it was hard to best two muscle bound creatures that easily stood a foot taller than him, even with his ninja skills.

"Be careful, Raphael!" Leonardo shouted, using his katana to try and slash at his lock, "It's not as easy fighting them alone!"

As he executed several flips to create some distance away from his foes, Raphael responded angrily, "And you think I don't know that?!"

He paused to wipe the sweat off his brow, and breathed heavily. '_Man,' _he thought, _'if I don't find a way to take these guys out soon, my brothers won't be able to escape, and Shredder's plan will fall into play. There's got to be something around here that can…'_

Raphael looked up towards the ceiling, and to his delight, he found a fifth cage situated near the other four. Reasoning that the fifth one was probably for Master Splinter, Raphael waited with baited breath as Bebop and Rocksteady neared closer to his desired destination. When they finally got to the spot right under the cage, Raphael held up his hand, "Hey guys, guess what?"

Stupidly, the two mutant henchman stopped in their tracks and stared at the turtle. "What?" they said in unison.

"Know what's more pathetic then an idiotic mutant rhino and hog?"

"What?" they repeated.

"An idiotic mutant rhino and hog trapped in a cage!"

Raphael deftly threw both of his sais towards the chains that held the cage in the air, and they hit their mark with only the precision a ninja could muster. With nothing to hold it up, the cage let gravity overcome it, and it clanged to the ground, effectively trapping Bebop and Rocksteady in its clutches.

Both mutants stared in shock at the bars in front of them, before they began clawing at the bars in obvious fury. Bebop barked, "You measly turtle! We'll get you fer that!"

"Yeah yeah." Raphael muttered, waving his hand dismissively at the two, "Save it for next time. I have more important matters to attend to."

Turning around, Raphael found the Shredder looking past him at the cage where Bebop and Rocksteady currently resided in. His looked angry, but Raphael found something eerily strange about his hand movements, as well as the contorted expression on his face. They almost looked forced, as if the Shredder were acting in a bad superhero movie.

"You infernal nitwits!" Shredder shouted, "Why do I pay you for this?"

"But Shredder, you don't pay us at all." Rocksteady said.

"Enough out of you, you wretched beast!"

"Ok, I've had enough with the small talk!" Raphael said, "It's time to stop your evil plans Shredder!"

With a ninja cry, Raphael leapt forward, and began to duel with the Shredder. They began to exchange the usual punches and blows that Raphael and his brothers usually gave to the villain, but this time Raphael noticed a distinct difference.

Rather than having a difficult time, Raphael was actually gaining the upper hand. He felt like part of it had to do with the fact that the Shredder was holding a fragile chemical and couldn't use his one hand. But even with that disadvantage, the Shredder had usually taken all four of them without too much effort. It didn't make any sense.

'_What's making this fight any different?' _Raphael thought, '_Are we really getting better at this? Or is Shredder just faking?'_

Rather than taking time to consider the Shredder's motives, Raphael decided to throw caution to the wind and continue with the fight. With each punch that he threw to the villains' face, with each kick that he gave, he pushed the Shredder closer and closer to the control panels.

'_Won't be long now before he's trapped._'

Raphael moved even faster, letting his ninja skills take over his mind. He made the Shredder back up, bit by bit, until he was no more than two feet from the control panels. Giving all that he had, Raphael threw one final punch and smirked when he felt it connect.

With a grunt, the Shredder fell back onto the control panel. Raphael took the ample time that he had to take out one of his ninja stars and rush forward. The Shredder made an attempt to right himself up again, but he found that hard to do when a sharp metal instrument suddenly found its way onto his neck.

"Now Shredder," Raphael said, his voice taking on its usual cocky tone, "you're going to give me that formula, you and Krang are going to walk out of the Technodrome, and soon enough, you two are going to follow the Yellow Brick Road right over to jail. Capisce?

Shredder looked down at the formula in his hand, before giving Raphael an evil smile.

"Actually Raphael," Shredder said, "I have something else in mind."

He popped the cork to the test tube, and Raphael held the ninja star tighter to his throat.

"Instead of simply giving you the formula…"

The sound of Shredder's voice gave Raphael pause.

'_Wait, what does he mean by that?'_

"Why don't you try it FOR YOURSELF!"

'_Oh no. OH NO!'_

With an evil laugh, Shredder threw the contents of the test tube straight into Raphael's face. The chemical, as red as his mask, cascaded down his green face, landing on his feet. For a second, Raphael felt nothing. He blinked in confusion before smirking at Shredder.

"Well Shredhead, looks like your super-duper formula didn't work. I guess now it's time for me to…

Raphael paused when he felt a slight tingling sensation all over his body. Looking down at his hands in anxiety, he watched as veins popped up, blood rushing through them at an unnaturally rapid pace. He could feel his arms and legs shaking, and before he knew it, he was on the ground, his legs no longer able to support his weight.

"What have you done to me, Shredder?!" Raphael yelled with all the strength he could muster.

Shredder leaned down towards the turtle, "Isn't it obvious, turtle?" He said, "I've doused you in my new formula?"

"Yeah, well get your laughs now, Shredhead. Because when I get better, I'll use my new powers to take you down!"

Letting out another one of his infamous laughs, Shredder said to the turtle, "Oh Raphael, you're sadly mistaken."

"Wh…What?" Raphael gasped, struggling to hold his weight up with his arms, which were now changing in size and color.

"You see, when I said I had made a new super soldier formula, I had been lying."

"WHAT?!"

"I knew you would be more careful around me if I said it was to be used against you, so I made it sound as if it was to be used for my benefit."

"So, what did you douse me with?"

Raphael didn't want to know the answer. Whatever it was he was soaking it, it was very quickly gnawing away at his insides. He could feel the pain inside him build up to an excruciating degree. All of a sudden, his arms lost their strength, and he collapsed on the floor.

'_Please tell me it's not what I think it is. Please tell me it's not what I think it is. Please tell me…'_

Shredder leaned in close to Raphael, and whispered in his ear, "Anit-mutagen."

And with that, Raph let out all of the pain in his system in an earth-shattering scream. Tears flowed from his eyes at the realization of what was actually happening to him.

"That's right turtle." Shredder said, chuckling maliciously, "Within minutes, you will be nothing but a tiny turtle again, unable to communicate with any of your friends or family, and reduced to eating pellets out of a can in a tank. I hope you enjoy the rest of life as the primitive animal that you are."

Leonardo, who had heard everything from his cage only a dozen feet away, suddenly burst out of his cage, having finally unlocked it. He ran towards his brother and Shredder, his katana raised.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, SHREDDER!"

Shredder, to Leonardo's dismay, gave little more than a dismissive glance towards him. Easily dodging the katana that came his way, he responded in kind with a swift punch to the blue-banded turtles' stomach. He watched as the turtle kneeled on the floor in pain.

"No Leonardo, I don't think I will."

Standing up, Shredder beckoned towards Krang, who had been waiting patiently in the corner. Krang came forward, his bubble walker bouncing up and down with each step.

"I must admit Shredder," Krang said, "I'm surprised you were able to fool the turtles like that."

"You honestly thought that I, the great and powerful Shredder, wouldn't be able to fool a bunch of pitiful reptiles?" He looked down at Leonardo and Raphael with disdain, "You must take me, Krang, for a fool."

Walking over to the cage that held Bebop and Rocksteady, Shredder pulled a key from his pocket, and unlocked the door.

"Come Bebop, Rocksteady. We must escort these reptiles from this establishment at once."

"Yes sir!" They both replied.

Within a matter of minutes, all of the turtles were back outside of the Technodrome, having been tossed out by the two mutant henchman. Michelangelo and Donatello were tied up, while the injured Leonardo and mutating Raphael were left alone.

Standing at the entrance, Shredder looked back at the turtles and said, "I'm sure we'll eventually meet again, reptiles. But next time, it will be without the sai-wielder at your side."

The door to the Technodrome closed, and the entire vehicle went back the way it came, crossing over the same path of destruction it had already created. Before the turtles could blink, it was gone.

Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello now turned back towards Raphael, who still writhing on the ground in agony. His body flashed from yellow, to orange, to green, as his face pulsated and warped in its shape.

"Raphael?" Michelangelo choked, putting his hand on Raphael's shoulder and trying to fight back the tears from falling from his face.

"Yes?" Raphael uttered, fighting desperately over the immense pain he was suffering.

"I just wanted to let you know…"

"Know what?"

"No matter what happens to you, we'll all be there to take care of you bro. No matter what."

Raphael gave a slight cough and shuddered, "Th…Thanks Mikey."

Leonardo and Donatello put their hand on Michelangelo's, "We'll be there too." Donatello said.

"We'll all be there." Leonardo added finally.

As his eyes began to close, Raphael thought about the future. _'Maybe life as a normal turtle won't be so bad. I'll still be taken care of, and I'll still have everyone I love around me. Maybe it won't be so bad after all. Maybe…'_

Those were the last thought Raphael could manage through his mind, before he finally succumbed to the pain and lost consciousness.

Author's Note: Tell me what you think of it, and get ready for more. I actually plan to continue with this one.


	2. Startling Revelations

A/N: I actually plan to keep up with this story. So here it is, the second chapter! I hope the story has pleased you so far. It may take a while to pick up, and it won't get too intense I think, seeing as I'm trying to fashion it like an episode of the TV show. But I am making it up as I go, so who knows where I'll go with this. I've decided this chapter is designed to be more informative, providing some filler before it picks up a bit. It's heavy on the dialogue.

**A Whole New Raph **

**Chapter 2: Startling Revelations**

"Can't understand how this could have happened to him…"

"None of this makes any sense…"

"How will he react…"

"Is this good or bad…"

Voices. Various voices. Voices Raphael couldn't identify. That was all he heard through his sleep-addled brain as his eyelids fluttered open and closed. Strangely enough, Raph could understand everything that was said clearly. None of what the voices said was foreign to his ears. Quickly, a realization came to him.

'_Maybe the formula didn't work after all.' _He thought, giving a small smile in relief.

"Look, he's waking up."

Finally forcing his eyelids to remain open for more than half a second, Raphael's vision cleared and the face of Leonardo swam into his view. Taking a second to get used to the close proximity of his brother, Raphael noticed how wide Leonardo's eyes were. Raphael felt like they were piercing his brain with how sharp they were, and he began to get very uncomfortable.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

Leonardo tried to remain calm, but the constant shifting of his eyes didn't escape his red-banded brother. "Oh, no reason." he said, "Just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Raphael gave a stern look to his brother, but before he could respond, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking to the right, he saw Donatello leaning over him, with that same nervous look on his face. He said, "Yeah Raphael, we were so worried that something bad was going to happen to you after you got that formula on you. Just that fact that you didn't become an ordinary turtle again is relief to us."

Michelangelo appeared from behind Donatello, and added, "Yeah dude. You can't blame us for getting a little in your personal space. We're just so happy to see your ugly mug."

Raphael was about to respond with a clever jab, when he noticed a look on Michelangelo's face that he was becoming much too familiar with much too quickly. Michelangelo was smiling broadly like he usually did, but his eyes were unnaturally wide, and still red from what Raphael could only assume was previous crying.

'_Ok, no three people look at someone like that if everything is alright. They're hiding something from me, and it's about time I find out what."_

Raphael let out a huge sigh, and said, "Ok, that's enough."

"What's enough, Raphael?" Leonardo asked.

"You three are staring at me like I'm some sort of freak show. You'd better tell me what happened with that formula, or I'm gonna…"

Raphael paused suddenly, reaching for his throat in shock. He hadn't noticed it when he had first spoke, but now that he was fully awake and aware of his surroundings, it was clear as day.

Something was wrong with his voice.

It was almost an octave lower than normal, as if someone had recorded his voice on a tape recorder and played it back for him in slow motion. But that was the simple way of describing it.

It was also tinged with a roughness Raphael's voice hadn't had before, as if its owner was extremely aggressive and battle hardened. If Raphael hadn't rubbed his throat for confirmation, he would've assumed someone entirely new was talking.

"Guys," Raphael began, "what happened to my voice?"

All three turtles exchanged nervous glances with one another, before Donatello said, "Well, when we said we were worried something bad was going to happen to you…"

"Yeah?" Raphael said, egging his brother on.

"That didn't mean nothing did actually happen to you."

Raphael suddenly gave out a fierce growl, startling his brothers and even himself with its strength, "Are you saying that chemical altered my voice?!"

"Now now Raphael, calm down."

"Calm down?!" Raphael shouted, abruptly sitting up in his bed, "How am I supposed to talk with a voice like this?! What if I get laryngitis? How will I ever be able to speak again?!"

Michelangelo interrupted Raphael's tirade with a small bout of nervous chuckles, "Trust me Raphael, if that's what you're most worried about, then you don't even want to know what else happened to you."

Pausing for a second, Raphael uttered, "What?"

Sensing the anger building up within his brother, Leonardo grabbed Raphael by the shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. "Now Raphael," Leonardo began, "Just settle down for a second."

"Leo," Raphael said, giving Leonardo a nickname for the first time while struggling to keep his growing anger in check, "what else happened to me?"

"Raphael," Leonardo said peacefully, "You don't have to be so angry. We never said the changes were bad. We just…"

"Tell me." Raphael growled, finally losing his patience. "NOW."

Letting out a sigh, Leonardo let go of his brothers' shoulders. "Fine." He said, "Look at your hand."

"What?"

"Just do it."

'_Why would he tell me to look at my hand?' _Raphael wondered. _'I can feel it. It feels just like my hand.'_

Slightly confused, Raphael lifted his hand up to his face, and suddenly the buildup Leonardo had given him made sense.

He and all of his brothers had always had the exact same skin tone. Whether it was because the four were actually genetically related or not, it didn't matter. All Raphael expected whenever he looked at his hand was to see the familiar leathery skin, with three fingers and a light grass green tone.

This time however, his hand was deep green, almost a forest green. Turning his hand palm down, he could see thick veins laced through his fingers. Only this time, they didn't feel like an effect of the formula he was doused in. They felt like an exhibition of strength and power. And even though Raphael was utterly disturbed, and admittedly a little scared, in the back of his mind, he felt a small twang of pleasure. This was a hand that could do some real damage.

Noticing something else strange about it, Raphael turned to Michelangelo, holding it out to him.

"Take my hand."

"What?" Michelangelo questioned.

Echoing Leonardo, Raphael said, "Just do it."

Giving a small shrug, Michelangelo gave his hand to Raphael, and almost instantly could see the differences. Besides the change in skin tone, his hand now almost completely dwarfed Michelangelo's. It looked to be at least one and a half times larger than it was before.

"Oh my god." Raphael said, throwing away the blanket that covered him and swinging his legs over to the floor. But before he could get up, Donatello grabbed his shoulder again.

"Um, I don't think you should be getting up right now Raphael."

Stopping in his tracks, Raphael questioned, "Why?"

Wringing his hands nervously, Donatello replied, "Well…I mean you just woke up from a lot of pain, and I really don't think you should shock your system any more than it is now, and…"

"Nuts to that." Raphael said, "I wanna know."

Without another second's hesitation, Raphael stood up. He looked around and found that he was in his room.

'_Well, that's a relief.'_ Raphael thought, '_At least I'm not waking up in unfamiliar territory.'_

Twisting his head around in every direction, Raphael was quick to notice a distinct problem with his surroundings. Everything around him seemed to be a bit…lower than usual, as if he was standing on a stepladder. But the absence of metal under his feet disproved that theory. He turned around to meet his brothers' eyes and said, "Hey guys is there a reason why everything's lower…lower…"

He stood with his mouth gaping as his eyes met nothing but air. Tilting his head down a bit, Raphael then found their eyes. He should have felt relieved, but the problem had already made itself apparent.

He was taller. Quite a bit taller in fact. Judging by the positions of his brothers' heads, they only barely reached Raphael's neck.

'_Wow,' _he thought, '_I must be six to eight inches taller at least.'_

He paused for a second to consider if his brothers had simply gotten shorter, but he quickly quelled that idea.

'_That's ridiculous. They didn't get hit with that formula.'_

Slowly clenching his large fists, Raphael uttered, "So, uh, is that it?"

"Huh?" Michelangelo asked, giving Raphael a quizzical look.

"Is that everything thing that happened to me? Or was there some other freaky-deaky transformation I went through?"

It didn't take much for the three brothers to notice that much of the anger in Raphael's newly rough voice was leaving him. He almost sounded a little hopeful, as if he were expecting more.

"You…you're not mad?" Leonardo questioned, relaxing his shoulders.

"Well, not exactly." Raphael responded, rubbing his arms, "I mean, I honestly thought that I was gonna become a regular turtle. Or, considering Shredder's fame for screwing things up, a hideous monster. This isn't so bad."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Raphael continued. "A little height and growth in the hands never hurt anybody."

"Well Raphael," Michelangelo said, beaming at his brother, "thankfully you didn't become a hideous monster, or else I would never be able to look at your face without vomiting."

"Mikey…" Raphael warned, shaking his fist at the orange-banded turtle.

"There we go with the nicknames again! Honestly Raphael, that has got to stop!"

Raphael couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at that, "Alright, alright ya knucklehead. You've had yer laughs. That's enough outta ya."

At Raphael's words, Michelangelo gave up and collapsed on the bed, shaking with laughter.

"What's so funny, ya little runt! Did that formula give me some giant unicorn horns or somethin'?"

"No, no, nothing like that!" Michelangelo said, getting up from the floor.

"Well then, what's the matta?!"

Deciding to cut to the chase, Michelangelo pointed at Raphael's throat, and said through his laughter, "Is that a Brooklyn accent I hear?"

"What the heck do ya mean by that?"

After speaking those last words, Raphael suddenly realized what Michelangelo had meant. His new voice, apparently, had a much different way of being used than his previous voice. It almost seemed to adjust to its default setting after Raphael had used it for a while. Its inflections were slightly off, almost making some of his words sound slurred. Judging by the specific inflections that were made, Raphael could match it with Michelangelo's exclamation. It was indeed a Brooklyn accent, and a rather thick one at that. Raphael had seen tough gangster-like characters talk like that on some of the TV shows he watched, and honestly, he kind of liked it. It made him sound tougher.

"Meh," Raphael shrugged, "the voice fits."

"And that's not all that fits, Raphael!" Michelangelo yelled, firmly on board with the idea that Raphael was actually enjoying this new transformation. "Take a look at the rest of you!"

"Yeah," Donatello said, ushering the red-banded turtle towards a nearby mirror, "With these new changes, you'll probably become much more effective in our battles."

"What's dat supposed to mean?"

With an approving smile, Leonardo said, "See for yourself."

Turning his head, Raphael at last came in contact with his reflection. He wasn't wearing his pads or belt, probably because of the mutation that warped his body, and even his mask was gone from his face. But that wasn't what made Raphael nearly step back in shock.

He was…muscular. He and his brothers had always held a fair amount of muscle to their frames, a gift given to them by their years of ninjitsu training. But this new body was much thicker, almost bulky even.

Raphael put his hand on his arm and flexed it experimentally, and almost gasped when the bicep bulged, becoming as hard as a rock. His plastron, which had before been flat, now jutted out like a human chest did. He could even almost see a six-pack forming on his lower plastron. His legs had also increased dramatically in size, his thighs swelling with muscle. This was a body that meant business.

"Wow." Raphael said, still in awe of the strength his new body exhibited.

"Wow indeed." Michelangelo added, clapping a hand on Raphael's beefy shoulder, "I'm personally glad this happened to you. We could use a brute on our team."

Raphael's smile faded as quickly as it had come, "What was that?"

"You know, someone with all brawn and no brains. Someone to be our King Kong."

"I'll show you King Kong!"

Raphael swiftly grabbed Michelangelo's head with his arm, and proceeded to give the jokester the most painful noogie he had ever received in his life.

"Ow, Raphael! OW! Quit it!" Michelangelo yelled, the skin on his head moving up and down with the force of the noogie.

"Say you're sorry and I'll stop!"

"Ok! OK! I'm sorry!" Michelangelo flapped his arms up and down, waiting desperately for Raphael to stop. After a few more seconds of pain, Michelangelo finally felt his brothers' hand leave his head, and he stood up. He noticed with a small smirk on his face that Raphael was once again examining himself in the mirror, moving his hands over his face.

"What's the matter, Raphael? Can't believe how much uglier you've gotten?"

Turning around, Raphael gave a stern glare in his brothers' direction, "Shuddap, Mikey. I'm just makin' sure everything's in place."

He turned back towards the mirror and continued to rub his hands over his face, noticing all of the subtle and obvious changes.

His head was rounder. Glancing at his brothers, Raphael noticed how they had a pretty small head on top of a rather large snout. Looking at his new face, Raphael suddenly realized how misshapen it was before.

'_It looked like a small circle and a large oval before.' _He thought.

This new head was shaped much more like a human's was. His mouth was still unusually large, and he still had an absence of lips, but every feature was proportioned better than it was before. For a mutant turtle, he actually looked pretty good.

But the most striking feature that had changed was his eyes. Before, he had had straight black eyes, like the rest of his family. They were very much like little beads. But now, his eyes were a bright, golden amber, a color that burnt even in the darkest of night. They captured Raphael's attention the most and he couldn't help but stare at them for more than a few seconds.

"Jeez," He said, "I neva thought it was possible, but somehow I've become even more handsome."

The remaining three brothers looked at each other, silently glad that Raphael was taking this new form so well, and wanting to stop him before his ego took over.

"So Raphael," Leonardo said, grasping Raphael's arm and spinning him around, "Are you ok with this new body? I mean, it's quite a striking change."

Raphael grinned. "Hey, whether dis is permanent or not, I could get used ta dis. I could probably bench press a car with these muscles."

"Actually, speaking of permanent…" Donatello interrupted, "I need to run some tests on you. While this may seem beneficial right now, I need to make sure there aren't any side effects. Unless Krang and Shredder made a crucial error in creating this formula, I don't think we're in the clearing just yet."

Giving a shrug, Raphael agreed, "Alright, Donny. You're da boss."

"But first things first," Leonardo said, gesturing towards Raphael's figure, "We need to get you some new gear."

Raphael looked down at himself, and instantly became embarrassed at his state. His brothers rarely took off their gear unless they were taking a bath or otherwise asleep. This sudden exposure brought a tinge of red to his cheeks.

"Yeah," he said, rubbing his arms again, "why don't we do that?"

The brothers walked over to the basket where they kept their extra supplies of gear. Wanting to clothe himself as quickly as possible, Raphael began digging through the pile of arm bands, leg bands, and belts.

'_Orange, orange, blue, purple, blue again…' _Raphael thought, tossing aside the multicolored bands, '_Where is the red?'_

He managed to find one red wrist band, and a belt with his "R" in the center, but open putting them on, Raphael realized that they would never do. The arm band was stretched to its limit on his wrist, and the belt could barely make it around his waist. Reaching backwards with his arms, he realized that his arms couldn't touch each other around his back.

"Great." he muttered, "My shell must've grown with da rest of me."

He turned to his brothers, "Don't we have any other gear anywhere?"

"No, I'm sorry." Donatello said, "We always keep our gear in that basket. I guess your mutation ripped up your last pair."

"DAMMIT!" Raphael yelled, causing his brothers to jump in the air. He himself was startled by the anger in his voice. He had never gotten so heated like that before, and especially not over something as trivial as clothing. '_Where did that come from?'_ he thought, before ignoring it for the time being.

"Sorry." He corrected, giving his brothers an apologetic look. "Don't we have anythin' else?"

Donatello put a finger to his chin, before brightening up, "Well, we do have that practice gear we keep in the storage closet."

"Oh right." Leonardo said, snapping his fingers, "The gear we used when we first started practicing with our weapons. Come on guys, let's go get it."

The four made their way to their storage closet, and with a desperate tug, Raphael jerked it open. He used his new golden eyes to search every nook and cranny of the 3-by-6 foot closet.

'_Wooden weapons, silverware, bandages, toilet paper…ah, here we go!'_

Raphael dug into the back of the closet and pulled out a small basket filled with elbow pads, knee pads, and belts. But he frowned upon looking at them.

"Uh, Donny," he said, holding out one of the pads, "These are way too small fer me."

"Don't worry," Donatello responded, "They're adjustable."

Pulling at one of the straps, Raphael was pleased to see that they were indeed adjustable. He stretched the elbow pad over his right elbow and made it as loose as possible.

A perfect fit.

He did the same with his other elbow, as well as both of his knees. Reaching back into the basket, he pulled out a leather belt and tied it around his waist. Luckily, it was long enough to fit around his shell and still leave some material left.

Walking back to the mirror, Raphael inspected himself once more. His new pads were brown instead of his usual red, and they were fashioned more like a pair of shin guards were, offering more protection. His belt was the same color, but didn't have the "R" in the middle he was so used to. It was more like a conventional belt, plain and slightly ripped at the edges.

Frowning at first, Raphael soon decided the new look fit him better. It made him look more menacing. '_It might help if the people I'm fighting don't look at me and see a Christmas tree.' _There was only one thing missing.

"Hey, Donny?"

"Yes Raphael?"

"Ya got a mask somewhere for me?"

"Oh, of course!" Donatello stuttered, rushing back to the storage closet. Within a few seconds, he came back with an extra mask. Raphael smiled, took the mask and attempted to put it on. But he soon found another problem. It was long enough to wrap around his head, but with the increase in his size, the mask was now too short to form a knot. Grumbling in frustration, Raphael threw the mask to the floor.

"Don't think that's goin' ta work."

"Well," Donatello pondered, "We do have some extra material we use to make those masks. I'll see if we have any left."

"You do that."

Within a few seconds, Donatello was back with a roll of red fabric and a pair of scissors. Raphael took the scissors in his hand and began carefully cutting away at the fabric, trying to judge his head size and create a longer mask. After cutting about two feet of fabric, Raphael stopped to look at it. By that length, it was long enough to wrap around his head and resemble the mask he had before. But he felt something was off about it.

'_I'm not sure if this mask works now.' _he thought, '_It'll probably seem out of place. Hmmm…let's try to go a little longer.'_

He continued to cut the fabric until it was about three and a half feet long. Satisfied with the product, he cut two eye holes in the center and wrapped it around his head. He adjusted it so that the eyes went through the holes before turning back to his brothers.

"Well guys, whaddya think?"

Taking a second to observe the red-banded turtle, Leonardo's face perked up. "I think the new style suits you, Raphael. It's a bit long, but for now, it works."

Turning back to the mirror, Raphael fingered the end tails of his new mask. Instead of just forming into a simple knot behind his head, this mask stretched all the way down to the middle of his large shell. He imagined that if he was outside, the tails would flow behind him in the breeze.

'_It's almost more mysterious, like an actual ninja.'_

He gave a small smile. "You know, dis look ain't half bad."

"Yeah!" Michelangelo agreed, "You look so much tougher than before. You're like a thug, instead of that wimp you used to be."

Giving an evil smirk, Raphael pounded his fists together. "Just get ova here Mikey, and I'll show you a wimp."

"Eeep!" Michelangelo cried, covering his face with his arms. "Not the face! Not the face!"

But before Raphael could start towards his brother, Leonardo grabbed him by the arm. "Boys. Now is not the time."

"Whateva, your highness." Raphael shrugged, giving his other brother a vicious glare. After taking a second, he let out a puff of air. "You know, I'm still confused about all this."

"We all are, Raphael," Leonardo said, "This is something we've never experienced before. And we still don't know what the long-term effects are."

"Or what Shredder's got planned. Once he finds out the formula didn't work, he'll probably come after me again, trying ta finish what he started."

"That is going to be a problem."

"But no matter what," Raphael continued, "no matter how dis affects our lives, I'm goin' to face it head on. Once I learn how to work this new body, the baddies out there won't know what hit 'em. "

Leonardo gave a sincere smile to his brother, "And we'll there, helping you every step of the way."

Donatello nodded, "All of us."

Smiling, Raphael held out his arms, allowing all of his brothers to join him in a group hug. The four stood there, holding each other for a moment before breaking apart.

"And now," Michelangelo said, "it's time for an introduction!"

He pulled Raphael by the arm into the center of the room, and swept out his arms. "Presenting, the all new and improved Raphael!"

Raphael chuckled lightly, a little embarrassed by the unnecessary attention he was receiving. Listening to how Michelangelo said his name, he decided, _'Hmmm…Raphael's nice, but I think I need a nickname to go with the new me.' _

"Raph."

Michelangelo gave a quizzical look. "Huh?"

"Let's go with Raph now."

"Okaaaay." Michelangelo said, still a bit confused, "For some reason you've decided to give us all nicknames, but no matter…."

He swept out his arms again, kneeling to the ground, and proudly proclaimed for all the sewers to hear, "Presenting the all new Raph!"

A/N: (Mock viewer voice) "Hey. That's practically the title of the story. You're quite clever ssj2luke.

I know, and quite handsome as well.

So, if none of you could figure out what happened to Raph, even after that big description I gave, then I'll just spell it out to you. The formula basically gave him the body and voice of his 2003 counterpart. Except for the golden eyes of course, I just added that because that seems to be his eye color in every story I read about him. Never in the story will I mention alternate universes or anything like that, it's seen as a physical enhancement in this world. There will be more complications later, but as for now everything's hunky dory.

Oh, and of course, I don't own the Ninja Turtles. If I did, why would I be writing this? I'd be at a network, commanding people to make this an episode.


End file.
